What distance do you usually launch torpedos at?
 

Title says it all. I usually go as close to the target as possible (400~500m) because any distance more than 800m I tend to miss. :oops: Is it normal to fire at such distances or do I need more practice with precision? Also, any history buffs know what distance the actual U-Boat commanders kept with their target?

And just one more question on the side so I don't have to start a new thread: Does pinging for depth under keel give your position away to the enemy close by? I have a habit of pinging for depth before hiding from destroyers and those bastards always manage to find me somehow.:damn:

I usually try to shoot under 1000m, but then I have only been doing this for a 6 weeks or so. I tried a couple of shots 2000m but they missed or blew up before they got there.

I asked the same question when I first started & the answer that I got from several old swabs was "NO!" so ping away. I do the same as you & it hasen't brought any dd's to me for pinging close by.

5-800 meters is typical for me. Remember, what matters isn't the range when you fire but the distance the torpedo travels.

Ping for depth?:o
Bad move they will certainly hear you. I never ping for depth ever. You can't be sure how far your ping will be heard and you can never be sure you have'nt missed something dangerous. Survival is your priority, stay out of shallow water.

As for range thats a tricky one. For me that depends on many factors...

Type of target merchant or warship?
Speed of target?
Steam, Electric or Homing Torpedo?
Is the target Zig Zagging?
The year?

General rule for survival vs kill ratio...
Early war : close, under 1000 meters.
Late war : distant, as far as I think the eel will run!

On the question about depth readings: I always thought that the enemy destoryers would hear the sonar, so I always took my depth reading when I knew that they already had my position, or as a torpedo exploded so they would be distracted.

I have always tried to keep my eels under 1km, but there are times when you cannot get close enough to a target to fall under such strict ruling. A tip when firing from long range, stay undetected, and dont fire from long range if you have been detected. Once they know you are there, they will begin to zig zag, and any chance of making a long range hit are shot. No Pun Intended.

3000 my generaly prefered maximum range, although I have used longer ranges. I much prefer 2000 though, but not too much under. Maybe down to 1500 if there is no time to try for another shot. I like to have a little time to reach even a moderate depth before they impact.

Early in the war I fired them 800-1200m away from the target. From 1944 onwards I never get closer than 3500-4000m, as I want to get my boat back to base ;)

3Jane makes a good point.
Firing from close distance has two pro's: you are far more likely to hit the target where you want it to be hit, plus the chance that a torpedoes goes boom before reaching the target is very small.
But when you are targeting a convoy with escorts swirling around, it is another story. You definitely want the longest time between the moment you dive and the moment the torpedoes hit the target, because you want to be as deep as possible from that moment.

Personally I fire at single merchants between 500 and 1000 meters.
In convoys, That's usually 1000-2500.

The other question...I haven't tried that out, but I heard ppl say yes and others say no. :doh:

:doh: 3000km? How do you guys get the ship's distance accurately at such distances? Especially in rough water. Do you guys use some other method other than the standard one?

Not really. If you're undetected and the ship is moving in a straight course you can hit it accuratelly up to 4.5Km away. Usually I fire two torpedoes in these cases just to be sure

First the easy answer. You should know your depth under the keel well in advance of attacking escorted ships. So no need to ping the bottom with escorts trying to locate you.

As to torpedoes, I like 600 meters.

I've made a couple of shots at approx. 3,000 meters and got hits.

I've hit fast runners from 6km off under perfect conditions. Very enjoyable. Two fishes, of course, in case of duds.

on average i try no more then 3000 meters. once, I managed to score a hit (a unintended hit mind you) at around 12,000 meters.

I usually cant hit farther then 3,500

and if i can get withen 2,000, ill always try to do that

For me... a good ambush position is 1500m.

If I'm not worried about retaliation I creep in as close as 700m.

Wow... 3000km :huh: ...that would be impressive. I guess you'd need like mirrors in space to see around the Earth for that shot.

Seriously though, if you fire at a 0°-gyro angle (or close to it) the distance doesn't matter; you can set it at 1000m and pretty much not worry about it.

It takes a bit of practice but it's not that difficult if you're not discovered. Don't forget that you have the element of surprise

Firing distance depens on torpedo type. With Type I - II I prefer distaces up to 1000m. With Type III - 3000 m. Type VII -my most prefered distance- is 5000m. Many times I had to fire "multiplay lunch " at 7000 m. Yesterday I fired 4 torpedoes TVII at convoy (4 different ships), 4 hits from 7000 m. My prefered tactics is to stay silent and fire from long distance multiplay shots,:yep: than use deck gun to finish my job.:arrgh!:

Anything from 300 to 1500 meters for me. But I have to admit that's in the early part of the war as I still have to find out what it's like in second half of the war. :smug:

Manual or automatic targeting?

I use fully manual targeting (*) and I find difficult hitting ships beyond 1500m, my usual firing range is usually around 800m, surely when war progresses coming so near will be more and more difficult.

In some cases I got hits even from 2000-2500m but I felt I was pressing my luck too far...

(*) ship's speed and course calculated either by plotting or by matching speed.

Maraz

Use your WO, his a real sniper;), but .... the limitation is that your target has to be locked on for a few seconds, and sometimes it's hard to achieve. I prefer automatic targeting. In that case hitting targets from long distances is quite easy (after some training), but using manual targetting ... hm... 4000 m. may be possible but hard. Frankly, never tried manual on distances above 3000 m.